St. Thomas Downs Boca

BOYS' 5A SOCCER

BOCA RATON — Kiel Rodriguez scored to break a 1-1 tie midway through the second half, giving St. Thomas a 2-1 victory over Boca Raton on Friday night for the District 15-5A boys' soccer title.

St. Thomas will host South Dade in a regional quarterfinal match on Friday. Boca Raton will play at Hallandale.

Rodriguez also scored the first goal for the Raiders (24-4-5) late in the first half, on a rebound after a shot by Corey Martignetti.

The Bobcats (18-4-2) tied the score on a goal by Fabio Mariano after a Boca Raton defender missed a clearing kick with 27 minutes remaining in the game.

A minute later, Rodriguez scored the game-winner on a similar error by the Bobcats.

Rodriguez had a chance for a third goal late in the game, but his shot went inches wide.

"We wanted to get him the hat trick," St. Thomas coach Jobie Hughes said.

It was a rough game, with yellow cards waving throughout the 80 minutes. Raiders' defender Ryan Schick was red-carded after getting his second yellow with 25 minutes remaining.

In the closing seconds, Bobcats defender Enrique Brao was red-carded after being whistled for kicking Raider standout Tony Earp in the back of the legs for the second time in the game.

Earp was knocked down numerous times as the Bobcats made concerted efforts to contain him. "Tony is the best player in Broward County," Hughes said.

Sweeper Ronnie Castano stood out for the Bobcats. He made three outstanding saves inches from the goal after the attacking Raiders managed to get past Bobcat goalkeeper Jeff Katynski.

"This is not a bad result for us," Bobcat coach Ron Matella said. "We made it to the playoffs, and we'll see how things go from here."

District 16-5A

Hallandale 7, South Dade 1: Wesley Louissaint had a hat trick to lead the Chargers (20-3). Ezequiel Romero had a pair of goals. Victor Gurumendy and Neil Moind scored once. The Chargers will host Boca Raton in a regional quarterfinal match Friday.

District 16-4A

Cardinal Gibbons 3, Miami Pace 2: Ryan Fredericks had two goals and an assist to lead the Redskins (17-12-5). Trey Comstock had a goal and an assist. Tommy Gillete had an assist. Steve Cross had eight saves.

District 14-3A

American Heritage 4, Pine Crest 3 (OT): Daniel Crespo scored a pair of goals to lead the Patriots (18-2-3). Eduardo Becerio also scored, and Gustavo Freitas had the game-winner in overtime. Johnny Carpenter made 15 saves for the Patriots. Jason Epstein scored twice for the Panthers.